Medinah, Illinois – Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal gave an early indication of his likely pairings for this week's Ryder Cup when he sent out his players in groups of four for practice on Tuesday.
Englishmen Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood set off first at Medinah Country Club, with Northern Irish duo Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy in the second group along with Scot Paul Lawrie and Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
Germany's former world No 1 Martin Kaymer, Belgian Ryder Cup rookie Nicolas Colsaerts, Italian Francesco Molinari and Swede Peter Hanson then lined up in the third group on the first day of official practice for the 39th Ryder Cup.
Good friends Poulter and Rose, who dovetailed superbly at Valhalla four years ago where they won two-and-a-half points from a possible three, are expected to be paired together for Friday's opening foursomes matches.
The 'Super-Mac' combination of McDowell and current world No 1 McIlroy clinched one-and-a-half points from a possible two at Celtic Manor, Wales in 2010.
Olazabal has two previously successful routes to follow when it comes to matching up the rock-steady Donald.
In tandem with Garcia, Donald has won four-and-a-half points from a possible five in foursomes matches dating back to the 2004 Ryder Cup.
However, the Spaniard did not play at Celtic Manor two years ago due to poor form and Donald partnered Westwood to hammer the heavyweight American duo Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods 6&5 in the foursomes.
As far as 2010 U.S. Open champion McDowell is concerned, Europe's eight players for Friday morning's foursomes are virtually set in stone.
“The established partnerships are fairly obvious: myself and Rory, Poulter and Rose, Donald and Garcia, perhaps Westwood and Lawrie,” McDowell told reporters before setting off for practice.
“There's your eight, the first two groups today, fairly predictable. You can pretty much predict our first eight players Friday morning. Will we be that predictable? Who knows.
“But I'm looking forward to seeing how the next three days pan out in practice and how Jose kind of assembles us all,” added McDowell who secured the winning point for Europe in 2010.
Europe have triumphed eight times in the last 13 Ryder Cups and regained the trophy with a nail-biting victory by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2 two years ago. – Reuters